Tag: Le Havre

Rouget: ‘It’s My Premiere Passion to Buy Yearlings, Maybe More Than to Train Horses’

Always leave them wanting more, they say. In the case of Ace Impact (Fr) (Cracksman {GB}) there is little doubt that racing fans would have thrown wide their arms in joy had he stayed in training next year. 

Those closer to the business end of the stallion market will appreciate the fine line that had to be walked by Kamel Chehboub and his daughter Pauline in making their decision either to continue the racing career of the unbeaten colt they share with Serge Stempniak, or hasten his departure to their brand new stallion operation at Haras de Beaumont. In the end, heads trumped hearts, and while Ace Impact's retirement is racing's loss, it is also very much French breeding's gain.

The man who had the most right to feel aggrieved at Thursday's confirmation of the end of Ace Impact's racing career is Jean-Claude Rouget, who first set eyes on him as a yearling at Arqana two summers ago, and has delivered a masterclass, from Cagnes-sur-Mer to the Bois de Boulogne, in how to train a top-class racehorse. Rouget, though, understands the demands of both sides of the industry all too well, and is magnanimous in regard to the decision that has been taken to stand Ace Impact in Normandy, where the trainer himself was born 70 years ago. 

“I was very pleased to sell the share [in Ace Impact] to Kamel because he is very audacious and he is taking a lot of risk, and in France we need people like that,” Rouget says in a pause between recruiting the next batch of yearlings at Tattersalls.

“I was very pleased that the horse was going to stay in France at stud. It's a wonderful opportunity for the breeders. I am not a breeder myself but I think about the French breeders always going to England and Ireland every year, and we need a better stallion roster than we have. We had Siyouni and Wootton Bassett but Siyouni is getting old and Wootton Bassett has left, so we need some young horses.

“I hope he will become a good stallion, but nobody knows. A new book will open.”

The old book, let's call it the first in the series, was more novella than novel, but it was epic all the same. All we can do now is watch scenes from the story of the season on replay, and we are not alone in so doing.

Last year he was just asking me to give him time.

“What I did the other night as I was trying to get to sleep was to review Ace Impact's six races in fifteen minutes,” says Rouget, as much in awe of the horse as the rest of us.

“It was very interesting. He always had quality. Last year he was just asking me to give him time. He had very bad skin in the summer, which is not usual, so I decided to wait until the winter to start with him.”

Lucky for Ace Impact that he was bought – at €75,000 – by a trainer who has been around long enough to listen when a horse finds his own method of communication. Rouget is of course no stranger to success. In 1991, he set a French record with his 178 wins for the season, but quality has long surpassed quantity.

Three years after that, Millkom (GB) was his breakthrough star, from little heard-of provincial tracks to the big city, winning the Prix Jean Prat and Grand Prix de Paris and becoming the trainer's first runner in the Arc. It took another quarter of a century for Rouget to win that race, but in the last few seasons his impression on the Arc has been emphatic, with victory for Sottsass (Fr) in 2020 followed this year by Ace Impact. In the interim he had a second and fourth with Vadeni (Fr) and Al Hakeem (GB).

It is the Prix du Jockey Club which Rouget can these days just about call his own, however. Since his first win in the Classic with Le Havre (Ire) in 2009 – the year in which he became champion trainer for the first time, having also won the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix de Diane with Elusive Wave (Ire) and Stacelita (Fr) – he has now won it six times. Ace Impact's track-record-breaking success in this year's Jockey Club may well go down as one of the most visually impressive of all time. He broke the hearts of supporters of Big Rock (Ire) as he sped past, gathering a head of steam as if propelled by slingshot from the back of the pack. This was the first time the wider racing world outside France had woken up to the colt's extraordinary talents, but Rouget was already firmly of the opinion that he had a good 'un on his hands. 

Casting his mind back to January 26 and Cagnes-sur-Mer, he says, “We gave him a nice first race and he showed good acceleration. At that time it wasn't the same as we saw later in the year, but it was enough to win.

“After that we gave him two months because I knew we had to continue to give him time, expecting a good spring and summer. In Bordeaux he won well, he didn't have the best trip on the outside and he was pulling a bit, but he won easily. After that we started the process to make him into a Group 1 winner.”

He adds, “We passed by Chantilly to show him the track. In the Prix de Suresnes he was blocked inside but again he won very easily and that was the confirmation that he was a very good horse.”

Rouget, whose training career began in Pau in south-west France, has in recent years increased his satellite stable in Deauville. But he sensibly still steers the easiest route possible to the metropolitan tracks if he can. Of the decision to start Ace Impact at the seaside in the south of France, he says, “We had to choose a path: to run at two a couple of times or to start in March. To me, it's very difficult to start in March and to have a Group 1 horse. I did it with Valyra and she won the Diane two months later, but it is very rare. 

“I prefer to give them experience and, to me, Cagnes-sur-Mer is a very good track. I used to send 30 or 40 horses every winter. I did the same with Raabihah. She should have won the Diane for me. She was a close fourth, and after [Cagnes] she won [a Listed race] in Longchamp. I consider running in January to be the same as running in November. I don't push my horses to start. First time out I want there to be no risk.”

He continues, “Deauville is very interesting but I like Pau, I prefer to have the yearlings there, because Deauville is racetrack. Pau is a special training centre beside the racetrack.

“I think it is better for them to start in the provinces where racing is less strong at the beginning and you can give them one or two races to build their confidence. After that you can go to Deauville to try to win a Listed race. I prefer that route to starting in Longchamp or Deauville with a knife in their teeth.”

Ace Impact brought his own weapon to his tussles at Chantilly, Deauville and Longchamp in his killer turn of foot. He retires as the European champion three-year-old of 2023, having blazed, comet-like, through a career which spanned a little over eight months. 

He had been under the tutelage of Rouget and his team since the August of 2021, however. By then, his half-brother Alessandro (Fr) (Australia {GB}) had been second on three starts for Rouget, including in the Prix du Suquet on debut, the same race won by his sibling two years later on his own first visit to the races. 

I am very happy to choose my horses myself and to train them,
and to understand why I did well or why I did badly.

Rouget, then, was not entirely unfamiliar with the offspring of Absolutly Me (Fr) (Anabaa Blue {GB}). The 14-year-old mare is owned by German breeder Waltraut Spanner and resides at Barbara Moser's Haras du Long Champ – about as prophetic a birthplace for a future Arc winner as there could be.

Alessandro went on to win three races and finish second in a Listed contest, while his younger brother moved between Pau and Deauville, his trainer just biding his time.

Recalling his impression of Ace Impact at the yearling sales, Rouget says, “It was his conformation. He was very pleasing to watch, and his dam was doing well.”

Anyone who has seen the trainer in action at the sales will know that watching is what he does best. A regular presence ringside, he selects his own horses, and is analytical while accepting the blame if things don't go to plan. Such a lesson in scrutiny would be well learned by prospective bloodstock agents.

“It's my premiere passion to buy yearlings, maybe more than to train horses,” he says. “I am very happy to choose my horses myself and to train them, and to understand why I did well or why I did badly. Year after year I watch what I bought and ask myself, 'why is this one no good?' It's very interesting.”

Rouget was among the buyers last week at Tattersalls, and he will certainly feature prominently at Arqana this week, a sale which is a home from home for him in Deauville. It will be hard to find one to match Ace Impact, but the trainer will not be deterred from trying to unearth a fledgling racehorse with similar qualities.

“He has a tremendous stride,” Rouget says in attempting to pinpoint what set his newly retired star apart. “The same acceleration with a horse who doesn't move as well as he does is less effective. But his allows him to go very fast; he is covering a lot of ground, with an engine, and as the year went on he became more and more impressive.”

While he awaits the first offspring of Ace Impact at the sales, Rouget this year has had a chance to peruse yearlings by his first Arc winner, another home-grown French star, Sottsass. 

“I try to stay neutral but I have to accept that his horses walk well and seem, like him, to have good minds,” he says. “I have bought a few and Peter Brant will send me a few that he has bred. We will try to help Sottsass to become a good stallion.”

In the meantime, Ace Impact has helped his trainer to become champion for the second year running, having snatched the title back from his arch rival Andre Fabre last year. Since Rouget's first championship in 2009, it has passed to and fro between the pair, with Rouget's impending coronation marking his fifth time at the top of the table. 

He says, “There has been a challenge between Andre Fabre and me for a long time, especially in the last four or five years. Before, he was always in front, but I beat him in 2009, and 2016 was for me the best year with plenty of good horses. 

“For me, when I was a young trainer in Pau I couldn't even imagine that. I am very proud of it. Step by step we have built up the stable over 45 years.”

Step by step, too, he built the career of the best racehorse we have seen in Europe this year, one which was shrewdly not started too early, but which finished all too soon. It was brief, he was brilliant, and boy did he make an impact. 

 

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Wednesday Insights: Foreign-Flavored Firsters at Churchill

4th-CD, $120k, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16mT, 2:15 p.m. ET
LE LEVRE (Le Havre {Ire}) makes her first trip to the races for the sneaky debut barn of Al Stall, Jr. and is a half-sister to four winners from as many to race out of Sunny Again (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}), whose notable produce include Italian highweight and Group 3 winner Elisa Again (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}); Berkshire Rocco (Fr) (Sir Percy {GB}), a winner at listed level in England and narrowly beaten in the 2020 G1 Pertemps St Leger; and Group 1-placed Sunset Shiraz (Ire) (Time Test {GB}). Bred by Luke Lillingston's Mount Coote Estates and sold for 125,000gns from that operation's draft at Tattersalls October in 2021, the chestnut filly is also kin to a now-juvenile colt by Sea The Stars (Ire) that fetched 550,000gns from Godolphin at TATOCT last fall. La Voie (Quality Road) lands the deepest draw in the field of 12 and brings a million-dollar pedigree to the table. A May-foaled daughter of Debonnaire (GB) (Anabaa), she is a half-sister to Hartnell (GB) (Authorized {Ire}), a Group 3 winner in England before adding four Group 1 tests once sent to continue his career in Australia. She capped her worktab with a best-of-51 half-mile from the gate in :47 3/5 at Keeneland Apr. 27.

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“Everyone Is Welcome,” – Opportunity Knocks On La Route Des Etalons

Is it just me or should France be known as the bloodstock land of opportunity? This is the country that saw Wootton Bassett (GB) and Walk In The Park (Ire) pull themselves up by the bootstraps after entering the stud book at relatively modest sums. There are few serious racing nations that provide as much of a chance for a stallion to flourish than France does.
Take Kauto Star (Fr), the greatest staying chaser of the modern era, as an example. He hailed from the largely unheralded Village Star (Fr) but the cream was still provided with the right chance to rise to the top here.

A similar story was shared on one of the final stops of this year's Route des Etalons at Haras de Montaigu as the stud's Mathieu Leffray, along with his brother and father, sourced a mare by the name of Idaho Falls (Fr) for the miserly sum of €500 from the French equivalent of Done Deal.


What has that got to do with anything, you might ask? Because it was Idaho Falls who went on to produce multiple Grade 1-winning chaser Allaho (Fr), the highest-rated son of Haras de Montaigu's No Risk At All (Fr), who played a starring role on the Route des Etalons.

No Risk At All has proven his versatility as a jumps sire given he is also responsible for Champion Hurdle-winning mare Epatante (Fr) and, as he stood proud in the French sunshine, another high-class prospect, Allegorie De Vassy (Fr), hardened her reputation for Cheltenham Festival honours when winning by a street at Thurles.

Opportunity does not just knock for the National Hunt breeder alone at Haras de Montaigu, either, with G1 Prix Morny and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Dabirsim (Fr) new to the roster, as Emma Berry highlighted in her preview of La Route.

Along with the opportunities available to Flat an National Hunt breeders in France, another thing that quickly became apparent whilst touring through Normandie was how interconnected the breeding sector is, with every stud playing host to a foreign-registered vehicle and many of the same faces who toured the Irish Stallion Trail a week previously spotted in attendance.

One man in particular who reported an increased level of international traffic, largely down to young sires Persian King and Hello Youmzain, was Nicolas de Chambure of Haras d'Etreham. A strapping son of Kingman (GB), the French 2,000 Guineas winner Persian King is quite the contrast to the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain (Fr), but both stallions, whose foals sold well in 2022, compliment each other at stud.

“We have great expectations for them,” de Chambure said. “We put in plenty of work in getting Persian King and Hello Youmzain purchased and then by putting the syndicate together to support them.

“When the foals arrived, it was the first step towards seeing a little bit more of them, and obviously the breeders had high expectations and they've met those expectations so we are very happy.
“Persian King and Hello Youmzain are very different horses. That is also why we took the risk to retire two horses in the same year because they have very different profiles and are from different sire lines.

“The foals also looked different and were what you'd expect from their stallions. We will keep a good eye on them throughout the spring and right up to the yearling sales. That's going to be very important for them and then hopefully they will be spread out among good trainers around Europe. We will be supporting them as well.”

De Chambure added, “The fact that British and Irish breeders can see that these good French sires have appeal to the main pinhookers and trainers in the industry, I think that will give them the confidence to increase their trust in these French stallions on the whole. It has been very positive.”

Etreham also has the first 2-year-olds by City Light (Fr), a smart miler by Siyouni (Fr), to look forward to in 2023 while, interestingly, de Chambure revealed that breeders are now adopting a different approach to the mares they are sending to Almanzor (Fr).

He explained, “City Light has over 90 2-year-olds to run this season and, being a son of Siyouni, there is a bit of a buzz about him. The first reports are positive. His 2-year-olds are quite racey and, by the end of the year, we can expect them to be showing what they can do because they should be 2-year-olds.

“Almanzor has four or five exciting horses who have just turned three. He has an important year ahead of him but I think he has the numbers coming and breeders have adapted in the mares that they have been sending him. We are going to continue to see him improve and his next big horse is just around the corner, I am sure of that.”

That horse could well be the Aga Khan's Rajapour (Ire), unbeaten in three starts at two and, crucially, hailing from the smart Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire) mare Raydara (Ire), who is exactly the type de Chambure will be encouraging breeders to send Almonzor going forward.

“We were all a bit surprised that Almanzor had been throwing some size and, from his first crop, we got a few who were a bit big and backward. We all realised that and, even though they were like that, he showed that he can sire a really good horse. They can quicken and they have a turn of foot. Most of the breeders, the mares they have sent him now have a bit more speed and are more short-coupled, and we have seen the difference in the progeny.”

a half an hour down the road from Etreham, some of the finest National Hunt sires standing in France were on show Haras de la Hetraie , including Gold Cup-producing Kapgarde (Fr), whose Fakir D'Oudaires (Fr) took the feature G2 Kinloch Brae Chase at Thurles on Sunday.

The sire of last year's Gold Cup hero A Plus Tard (Fr) was joined in parade by fellow accomplished National Hunt stallion Great Pretender (Ire), best known for being the sire of Benie Des Dieux (Fr) and Greaneteen (Fr).

But it wasn't all about the stallions at Haras de la Hetraie, as not only did the stud offer top-notch entertainment when For Fun (Fr) lived up to his name by trying his hardest to break away from his handler, but the spread on offer was not bettered on the trip.

If it's French onion soup made by the boss himself, Pascal Noue, a fine selection of cured meats and enough oysters to feed a small village, Haras de la Hetraie was worth the trip even for those who hadn't got a mare in tow.

However, the majority of the people who made the trip to Sumbe were there in a professional capacity, according to Mathieu Le Forestier, nominations and racing manager at the stud, who reported that a lot of business had been done across the two days.

Easy to see why. Horses like Mishriff (Ire) don't retire to stud very often and, despite the fact that his debut season will be interrupted due to a slight setback, Le Forestier explained how interest in the stallion has not dwindled in the slightest because of it.

He said, “We envisage him covering 140 mares this year, which is a good number. The Prince [Faisal] will send him 35 to 40 mares of his own, which leaves about 100 nominations in Mishriff. “There have been virtually no cancellations from breeders after we announced his setback and the interest in him did not wane. We expect that he will resume covering on Mar. 15 and we don't see it being a big issue, except maybe for in the case of maiden mares.


“There aren't many alternatives to a horse of the quality Mishriff has in France and we have waited a long time to have a freshman with credentials as good as he has in the stud book here. Selling him is not the hardest job in my life.

“The good thing about Mishriff and Golden Horde (Ire) here at Sumbe is that they do the talking. We have done a lot of business over the past two days. There have not been many passers by and most of the people that have come here have been serious breeders.”

On the 2020 G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Golden Horde, who stands for €8,000, he added, “Golden Horde has been popular. He'll have good numbers but, most importantly, the right blend of people who breed to race and those who breed to sell have used him. We have 15 yearlings by him that we plan to race and they will be divided up between Andre Fabre, Jean-Claude Rouget, Roger Varian and Clive Cox.”

The sentiments shared by Le Forestier about Mishriff were be echoed by Mathieu Alex at Haras de Beaumont about G1 Qipco Champion S. winner Sealiway, set to stand for €12,000 this season, and very much the pride and joy of Pauline Cheboub's operation.

Asked if there had been much international interest at Haras de Beaumont on Saturday and Sunday, Alex said, “Yes, German, Irish, English, Swedish, Danish, American–we have had plenty of interest. This is business but also, and this is very important, the Route des Etalons gives us a chance to open our doors to the public and the industry needs that. Tourists, neighbors, it doesn't matter, everyone is welcome and we have to open the doors and explain our game. We have to show them that we love our horses. We have a mission.”

He added, “Sealiway was a champion two-year-old, which is extremely important nowadays. He won a Group 1 in England, the Champion S., where he beat three Classic winners, so he is a serious horse for France. That type of horse usually retires somewhere else. This place is for him. If it wasn't for him, none of this would be here. He's an extremely important horse and stallions like him are extremely important for this country. You've seen it with Le Havre (Ire), Siyouni (Fr), Wootton Bassett (GB), the whole country is propped up by them because they attract breeders from abroad. Also, they prop up the sales. So we need stallions like that.

“There has been a short-supply of top-class stallions in France and then we had three or four good ones at the same time. I don't know why that is. Siyouni is getting old, Le Havre is dead and now Wootton Bassett is gone. There is an opening and we need new good ones coming through. French people know that and, without mares, it doesn't matter how good Sealiway is, we need the mares. We are in the process of sorting out the mares for him this year and the important thing is numbers.”

If La Hetraie boasted the best food of the tour, well then the biggest crowd was recorded at Haras de Bonneval, where over 100 people turned out to see Siyouni and co strut their stuff during one of the afternoon sessions on Saturday.

Siyouni may have been the star attraction but Zarak (Fr), one of the hottest properties the country has to offer and set to stand for €60,000 this term, sent tongues wagging. Even Alain De Royer-Dupre turned out to say a few words about his Group 1-winning son of Dubawi (Ire) who has quickly made his mark at stud.


One of the more famous studs in France, Haras de Bouquetot, were provided with an opportunity to showcase some of its newbies, with Galileo Gold (GB) having made the move from Tally-Ho to stand alongside fellow newcomer Thunder Moon (Ire). Armor (GB) should make plenty of appeal to breeders, being a speedy son of No Nay Never, but there was no doubting the star attraction, as Wooded (Ire) wowed everyone in attendance and makes plenty of sense at €12,000.

Whether you are a high-end breeder on the Flat, want to produce the next big jumping star or are in search of a bit of value over both codes, the 2023 Route des Etalons confirms that there is something for everyone in France.

Three takeaways from the Route des Etalons
After a helter-skelter two days touring some of the best studs in France, here are some takeaways from a memorable trip.

Important Newbies
Mathieu Alex obviously has a vested interest in seeing Sealiway succeed but he spoke frankly and honestly about the need for another superstar stallion in France.

Siyouni is obviously operating at his pomp and, if Zarak continues on the trajectory that he is on, he could well take over the mantle but the importance of horses like Sealiway and Mishriff entering the stud book in France cannot be understated. Let's hope they are a success as there is clearly an opening there.

Exciting Times For Haras d'Etreham
Haras de Etreham managed Wootton Bassett from a €6,000 freshman to becoming a €40,000 stallion after just seven seasons before Coolmore swooped in and secured a deal for him to stand in Ireland in 2021 where he stands to this day for a cool €150,000.

Have Etreham uncovered the next Wootton Bassett in either Persian King or Hello Youmzain? That is obviously an exceptionally high bar to aim for but the early signs are promising.

In Persian King, Etreham can offer breeders a quality son of Kingman who has plenty of size while Hello Youmzain is exactly what you'd expect one of the fastest sons of Kodiac to look like.
The first foals by both stallions went down well in 2022, with some notable names signing for the progeny of the two, and it appears as though the future is bright for everyone at the famous French stud.

Dominance Of The Jumps
The dominance of the French-breds over jumps in Britain and Ireland is nothing new and a major highlight of the trip was getting the chance to see Kapgarde and No Risk At All in the flesh.
On Saturday, the Willie Mullins-trained It's For Me (Fr) (Jeu St Eloi {Fr}) shot to the head of the Champion Bumper betting when bolting up in a Navan bumper for Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

Jeu St Eloi is more or less an unknown as a stallion in Britain and Ireland, which goes back to the point made about France's ability as a nation to churn out top-class horses time and time again from relatively obscure origins.


Beaumec De Houelle (Fr) could be the next sleeper of a stallion for National Hunt breeders to take note of. One of the only sons of Martaline (GB) to stand in France, he won five of his six starts, including the G1 three-year-old hurdle at Auteuil in 2018.

Of course, jumps horses retiring to stud is nothing new in France, with Balko being another example, whereas it is quite rare in Ireland. Apart from Nickname, few entires have competed at the highest level, although who's to say what heights Sir Eric would have reached had he not suffered a fatal injury.

The French do things differently, that's for sure, and they are all the better for it. The proof, as they say, is in the eating, and there was a lot to digest on this trip.

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Frankel’s Tour de Force Brings French Champion Honours

Having provided the winners of this year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Prix de Diane, Prix Jacques le Marois, Grand Prix de Paris and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, Frankel (GB), unsurprisingly, has been named the champion sire of France in 2022. He ceded his position as champion in Britain and Ireland to Dubawi (Ire), whom he finished in front of when it comes to overall European earnings.

Of the winners of the above named Group 1 races–Alpinista (GB), Nashwa (GB), Inspiral (GB) and Onesto (Ire)–all bar Alpinista remain in training in 2023 giving Frankel an impressive battalion of older horses, which should also include 2021 Derby hero Adayar (Ire) and Irish Derby winner Westover (GB). Then of course in the Classic division for next season there's Chaldean (GB), who is in the running to be named European champion 2-year-old when the 2022 international classifications are announced in January.

There are few certainties in life, let alone in horseracing, but what we can say with some certainty is that these titles so early in Frankel's stud career will only be multiplied as the years progress.

Leaving aside this interloper in French territory, the Aga Khan Studs resident Siyouni (Fr), who was champion in his home country in 2021, again finished best of his compatriots and second in the table overall. He is the great hope for now as France seeks up-and-coming stallions to show themselves worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as him, Le Havre (Ire), who died in March and was ninth overall this year, and Wootton Bassett (GB), who was bought by Coolmore in 2020 and relocated to Ireland.

Siyouni was more than €3 million behind Frankel in prize-money and he now owns a truly international reputation. For the past two years he has been available to cover mares to southern hemisphere time and he notched a new Group 1 winner in Australia, the extremely promising 3-year-old filly Amelia's Jewel (Aus), in November. In Europe his star of 2022 was Tahiyra (Ire), who earned her Group 1 laurels in Ireland on just her second start in the Moyglare Stud S. The Aga Khan-bred half-sister to Tarnawa (Ire) must be considered one of the leading female Classic contenders for next season.

It would be no surprise to see Siyouni start to make a proper mark as a broodmare sire, too. His leading light in this regard is Erevann (Fr), a son of Dubawi and Siyouni's first Classic winner Ervedya (Fr), who in 2022 won the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein and was third in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois. He looks a Group 1 winner in waiting.

Lope De Vega (Ire) of course plied his own trade in France during his racing days and was, like his sire Shamardal, a dual Classic winner there. In 2022, he sired his highest number of stakes winners (24), with three of his four Group 1 winners triumphing in France. They were led by Dreamloper (Ire), whose two top-level  victories came at Longchamp, in the Prix d'Ispahan and the Prix du Moulin. Sweet Lady (Fr) landed the Prix Vermeille and Place Du Carrousel (Ire) broke the hearts of Nashwa fans in the Prix de l'Opera.

Churchill (Ire), whose first-crop runners were 3-year-olds in 2022, had only 26 representatives in France through the year. However, exactly 50% of them won, and they included both of the Coolmore sire's Group 1 winners to date. Of those, Vadeni (Fr) backed up his victory in the 'stallion-making' Prix du Jockey Club by taking on his elders when travelling to England to win the Eclipse. He is a highly exciting individual to follow next year when considering he wasn't beaten far when third to Luxembourg (Ire) in the Irish Champion S. and was subsequently only half a length behind Alpinista when trying 12 furlongs for the first time in the Arc.

Then from Churchill's second crop came Blue Rose Cen (Ire), who was asked lots of questions during her debut season by her young trainer Christopher Head, and generally answered them with ease, winning four of her six starts, including the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and G3 Prix d'Aumale.

Churchill was the fourth-leading sire in France in 2022 and managed a top-10 finish overall in Europe when leading his intake in ninth place overall, splitting Kingman (GB) and Siyouni, which is no mean feat for a second-season sire. His haul of seven stakes winners included the Group 2 scorers The Foxes (Ire) and Ladies Church (GB).

Of Churchill's contemporaries, Zarak (Fr) continued his ascent and was 11th overall in the French sire rankings. Most impressive was his tally of seven stakes winner (8.5%), which included the G2 Prix de Sandringham winner Purplepay (Fr), while La Parisienne (Fr) was placed in both the G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Prix Vermeille. That elusive Group 1 winner will surely not be far away.

We heard plenty about Dubawi in Thursday's appraisal of the leading sires in Britain and Ireland, where he was crowned champion for the first time. The Darley sire was fifth in the French table, having sired the Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Modern Games (Ire), who went on to glory at the Breeders' Cup for the second time, and Dubawi finished just ahead of the second of the French domestic sires, Dabirsim (Fr).

It is hard to consider Dabirsim as much more than a useful sire. From six crops of runners he has sired two Group 3 winners and another five stakes winners, but he does get plenty of winners and was second only to Siyouni in this regard. There was a flurry of excitement when he was represented by the G3 Albany S. winner Different League (Fr) in his first crop, and the offspring of the large book of mares that he covered the following year (2018) were 3-year-olds in 2022. Having stood his first two seasons in Germany at Gestut Karlshof, he moved to France's Haras de Grandcamp and from 2023 will be in his new home of Haras de Montaigu.

One can only admire Kendargent (Fr), the blue-collar lad of the French stallion ranks, who, as a non-stakes winner still has his name printed in upper and lower case in the France Galop table, which in itself, ironically, makes him stand out. And stand out he should because by now it has been well documented that from pretty humble beginnings, he has put his owner Guy Pariente's Haras de Colleville firmly on the map. He finished seventh in the table this year, his lowest ranking since 2017, having been third and fourth in the last three years. Furthermore, he is not only a successful sire but appears to be an up-and-coming broodmare sire.

Goldikova's brother Anodin (Ire), who is now at Haras de la Haie Neuve after starting his career at Haras du Quesnay, was represented by two stakes winners in 2022 and was eighth in the table ahead of the late Le Havre.

Saxon Warrior (Jpn) made a pleasing start to his stud career and ended the year as the leading first-crop sire in France. That was thanks in no small part to his GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road (Ire), who, prior to jetting to America, won both the G3 Prix de Conde and Listed Criterium du FEE. But he wasn't his sire's sole group winner in France, as Moon Ray (Fr) won the G3 Prix Miesque, while Gan Teorainn (Ire) was runner-up in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac.

 

Adlerflug's Reputation Continues to Fly High

For the third year in a row Adlerflug (Ger) was the champion sire in Germany, though regrettably his premature demise in April 2021 means that the last two of those championships have been awarded posthumously. Only Dubawi could better Adlerflug's percentage of 11% stakes winners to runners in Europe in 2022, his top-flight representatives being headed by G1 Grosser Preis von Baden winner Mendocino (Ger) and G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Alenquer (Fr).

Adlerflug's Arc-winning son of 2021, Torquator Tasso (Ger), added the G2 Grosser Hansa-Preis to his record and was third in this year's Arc after runner-up finishes in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. and the Grosser Preis von Baden. He has now joined the stallion barn at Gestut Auenquelle, while Adlerflug's other representatives at stud in Europe include In Swoop (Ire) and his full-brother Ito (Ger), as well as Iquitos (Ger).

Camelot (GB) was represented by the Deutsches Derby and Grosser Dallmayr-Preis winner Sammarco (Ger) and was runner-up in the table ahead of former multiple champion Soldier Hollow (GB), who also features as the broodmare sire of Sammarco.

Sea The Moon (Ger), who, like Adlerflug, was a Deutsches Derby winner during his racing days, has the favourite for that race next year in the form of the G3 Preis der Winterfavoriten winner Fantastic Moon (Ger). The Lanwades resident was fourth in the German rankings, with Areion (Ger), who died earlier this year, in fifth. The latter has been succeeded at stud in Germany by his son Alson (Ger), who stood his first season at Gestut Fahrhof in 2022.

The post Frankel’s Tour de Force Brings French Champion Honours appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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